The court of appeals upheld the Land Use Board of Appeals' July decision that said Hillsboro acted unconstitutionally when it enacted an ordinance that created two airport compatibility zones at the Hillsboro Airport. Read the order.

Both the city and the Port, which runs the Hillsboro Airport and which also was named in Barnes' original appeal, appealed LUBA's decision. In their appeal, the city and the port did not dispute LUBA's ruling that portions of its airport use zone violate the Oregon constitution. Instead, the appellants said Barnes appealed the wrong ordinance and thus LUBA had no jurisdiction to reverse the ordinance. Read the appeal.

In 2009, the city approved an ordinance that created new airport use zones and an avigation easement that requires property owners to give certain rights to the Port of Portland --without compensation -- when creating new developments. In January, the city approved an ordinance that applied the 2009 ordinance by changing the city's zoning map. Barnes appealed the January ordinance.

The court of appeals sided with Barnes, noting that the city and the port did not argue LUBA's jurisdiction during the original land use hearing, so they could not argue that point during the appeals process.

"I'm very happy of course," Barnes said. "I'm very, very thankful, and I will be celebrating tomorrow."

Barnes spent $15,000 during the LUBA hearing to hire attorney William Kabeiseman and now owes another $15,000 for the appeal. Community members have donated about $10,000 to the suit, she said, and she plans to continue raising money to pay her legal bills.

Neither the city nor the port would answer questions immediately. Both said they needed time to review the decision first.

But earlier this month, the city's planning department wrote a letter to the council that said regardless of the appeals outcome, the city will need to amend sections of the ordinance.

"Some of the revisions are relatively straightforward language changes having little impact on off-airport properties; others may require policy review by the Planning Commission and the City Council," Deborah Raber, the department's project manager, wrote.

The city hopes to work with the port to host an open house on the ordinance before holding public hearings.